Milk
by Proliks
Summary: When Spencer is drugged by an A-Team member and the unspeakable happens, she must rely on Toby, the girls, and most of all, herself to get through it. Slight spoilers for 4x5.
1. Chapter 1

**Milk**

_**When Spencer is drugged by an A-team member at Gamma Zeta party and the unspeakable happens, she must rely on Toby, the girls, and most of all, herself to get through it. **_

**warnings: brief descriptions of sexual assault, spoilers for 4x5**

xx

_The lights in the room were bright and dizzying. Red, purple, blue, orange, the colors from the strobe lamp swirled 'round and 'round the room, fasterfasterfaster until they reached a nauseating blur. _

_Spencer was going to be sick, but she couldn't move. She was frozen. _

_Closing her eyes, Spencer imagined that she was resting on a pillowy soft cloud, floating away to her favorite place._

_(the bed dipped beneath her)_

_The blurred lights faded, replaced with the image of a cream motel under a brilliant sun. Spencer felt the sunny warmth envelope her as she waited with hope, anticipation. _

_(her dress was pushed up, she was so very cold)_

_And there he was, Toby Cavanaugh, with his kind smile and loving arms. Toby tucked a stray hair from Spencer's face and pressed two lips against her forehead. "I love you."_

_(a rough hand grabbed at her ponytail, crushed his gravelly lips against her neck. "Kisses, bitch.")_

_Spencer felt like the world could burn and she would still be safe with the outcast with the vibrant blue eyes._

_(she was terrified)_

Spencer jolted upright, chest heaving with heavy breaths. Blanket drawn tight to her chest, she looked around the room, frightened. When her eyes focused to the darkness, Spencer realized where she was - Toby's apartment, much to her relief.

The lumpy shape next to her stirred. "Spencer?"

"I'm sorry Toby," Spencer whispered. "It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

Toby reached a hand towards the small lamp on his nightstand. Switching it on with a soft _click_, Toby sat up. "Spence, it's obviously something. It's the same something that kept you awake last night, isn't it?"

Spencer was ashamed to admit it, but her boyfriend was right. Ever since... since that night, she had trouble sleeping. She had trouble eating, too, but Spencer was able to hide that better with her busy schedule; controlling nightmares was considerably more difficult. She took one glance at Toby and knew she couldn't lie. "I'm scared, Toby," Spencer admitted. "A is still out there and knows the person who..." She still couldn't bring herself to say it, not even after three weeks.

Toby gently rubbed his hand in circles across Spencer's back. "No one is going to lay a finger on you ever again. I'm here to make sure of that."

It was a bold statement, and Spencer wanted to believe it, but the truth of the matter was that she hadn't felt safe since before the night her world fell apart, since before she let herself have one drink (_one_ drink!) at that stupid Gamma Zeta party and somehow woke up in Toby's bed with a pounding headache and bruises everywhere.

xx

_Three weeks prior_

Spencer awoke to Emily and Toby peering at her from the side of Toby's bed, a mild ache ebbing and flowing in her right temple. The blinds were drawn, and early morning shadows of the trees outside were cast over the room. A look of confusion washed over Spencer's face.

She didn't need to hear words to know that Emily and Toby were on the verge of crying.

"Spencer, do you... do you remember what happened last night?" Emily asked softly, her warm almond-shaped eyes brimmed with concern.

Spencer paused, the day's events playing in her mind: _College open house... Phone number search... Brendan and Emily flirt fest... Wasted frat guys embarrassing themselves in the streets... _

Spencer thought back to the most recent thing she could remember. "We got in an argument and split up."

Toby leaned forward. "Anything else?"

"I went in the house to - " Spencer shifted on her side, and that's when she felt it. Pain - dull, persistent pain where it (where _Toby_) has never hurt her before.

Spencer's stomach dropped -

down

down

down.

Expresso eyes caught the heavy purple bruise on her wrist and suddenly Spencer remembered someone pulling her across the room, through crowds of faceless strangers.

"Oh god," she choked out, putting it all together. The panic was a tidal wave in her chest, crashing against her lungs.

Toby jumped to Spencer's side and wrapped two strong arms around her. She let herself fall into his arms (because if she didn't, she might have passed out).

Emily swallowed hard, struggling to get the right words out. "Hanna and I... We found you in the leaves outside. You were..." Her eyes dropped to the floor.

Spencer gazed at her friend intently, trying to keep her composure. "I was what, Em?" her voice hoarse cracked as she spoke. "And why was Hanna there?"

"Drugged, Spence. You were drugged." Emily stood up and started pacing. The rate of her voice quickened. "Long story short, Hanna found a gun in her mom's closet that linked her to Wilden's murder. She brought it to the party and decided to bury it in the woods behind Gamma Zeta. We were headed that way when we found you."

Spencer couldn't breathe and questions were flying around so fast in her mind that she couldn't keep track. "What do you mean you 'found' me?" she asked. She was almost too afraid to hear the answer.

Emily looked at Toby, who nodded.

"You were in the leaves nearly passed out," Emily started warily. "You tried to tell us what happened to you but whatever was in your system... it was like it _froze _you or something."

(Spencer remembered that now, her brain telling her arms to move, her mouth to scream, the commands dissipating to nothingness).

Emily continued, despite the stricken look on her friend's face. "Your dress was... torn. Spence, we were _thisclose_ to taking you to the hospital, but on the way there, you kept trying to call for Toby. You wouldn't stop. We didn't know what else to do."

Spencer felt Toby squeeze her arm reassuringly. His warmth radiated against her body, which had since run cold with horror. "We will find who did this to you, Spence. _I_ will find who did this to you, if it's the last thing I do."

There was a brief moment of silence before Spencer took a deep breath and stated definitively "No... No, you won't."

A glance was shared between Toby and Emily, the latter of which furrowed her brows. "Of course we will, Spence," Emily said encouragingly.

Spencer shook her head, adamant. "No. I don't want you to. This can't be another thing A tortures me - _us _- over. This can't be another thing my family is disappointed in me over. You can't tell anyone."

Toby was on the verge of tears. "Spencer, you can't let this person get away with _hurting_ you!"

Spencer didn't need anyone to tell her that she was violated. She could feel the devastation in her mind, body, and soul. But Spencer's decision was made. Forty-five minutes later, she was showered and the previous night's clothes were in the dumpster.

Sanitation was there the next day.

xx

_Current day_

"I'll always protect you. You know that, right?"

Toby's voice drew Spencer from her thoughts. "Huh?"

This drew a soft chuckle from the blue-eyed man. "Nevermind, Spence. We can talk about it tomorrow." He squeezed her hand gently. "Do you want me to get you some milk? My mom always got me a glass whenever I woke up from nightmares."

"Sure," she murmured, sensing the inevitable onslaught of sleep creeping up on her.

Watching as he made his way to the kitchen, the faint light glowing from the refrigerator, Spencer couldn't believe how lucky she was to have someone in her life who would care for her unconditionally like Toby. The only attention her father gave her was linked to academic or athletic performance, and her mother, while attentive when possible, worked eighty hours a week. It was no wonder they hadn't noticed the weight loss or dark under-eye circles.

Toby returned with a tall glass of milk and handed it to Spencer. She took a long, eager sip, and sighed contently. Setting the remainder on the nightstand, Spencer drew the blankets back over her thin frame, her head falling into the plush pillow. "Goodnight, Toby," she whispered. "I love you."

A strong arm wrapped around Spencer's waist as she nestled against Toby's side. The dim light was turned off. "I love you too, Spencer."

* * *

So, this is my first PLL story. It follows most of the canon storyline but is obviously diverging post-4x5. Let me know if you like it and I'll continue.


	2. Chapter 2

**Milk**

_**When Spencer is drugged by an A-team member at Gamma Zeta party and the unspeakable happens, she must rely on Toby, the girls, and most of all, herself to get through it. **_

**warnings: brief descriptions of naughty adult thoughts**

xx

It was chilly the next morning, a sign that November was soon ending and winter was nigh. Toby kept the shades closed, not wanting to disturb a sleeping Spencer; after all, slumber was a rare luxury for the brunette these days. He stared blankly into his mug of coffee. The heat from the mug was almost too much, but the indescribable feeling that snaked around Toby's heart and squeezed was worse.

(_fury, desperation, agony came to mind)_

Spencer stirred in his bed, her dark curls splayed across the fluffy white pillow. Every single day Toby found new about her to love, but ever since the rape - and that's what it was, even if Spencer refused to say it -the light she exuded had been fading.

He needed it, that light. It kept him warm in his darkest hours and reminded him that he wasn't a loser, an outcast, a freak. He needed _her_.

By the time Toby had finished his cup of coffee, Spencer's alarm was going off. He watched as she cracked opened her eyes, yawned, swung her long legs off of the bed. "Morning," she said with a quiet smile

"Good morning, beautiful," Toby replied. H_e _knew Spencer felt anything but.

Spencer padded towards the bathroom, swinging the door behind her. The door, it wasn't quite shut and Toby could see her lithe silhouette bathed in the morning light.

His heart was hammering in his chest as he watched Spencer's shirt slide slowly, slowly, slowly up her stomach, over her chest, down to the floor. Toby swallowed hard. A familiar warmth tingled in his lower belly - lust. It had been so long (_too_ long) since the couple had been intimate. Toby longed to brush his fingers across Spencer's soft skin, feel the trembling of her legs at climax. It was an insatiable hunger, and he couldn't help the rush of thoughts that flooded his head: _Spencer exposed and beneath him, Spencer scratching her nails down his back... _

The sight of her bareness was knee-dropping. It was certainly a welcome feeling considering the atmosphere as of late. Toby, though, knew better. He wasn't about to push Spencer into anything she wasn't ready to do. He respected _(worshipped)_ her too much for that.

Through the crack in the door, Toby could see Spencer turn around to face the shower.

Any desire that Toby had been feeling was murdered by an uncharacteristically dark rage when he spotted the ugly greenish-yellow bruising smattered across Spencer's upper right arm. It had been worse before, of course, but the marks were a continued reminder of the terror his girlfriend must have felt at the hands of some... some _filth._ Toby gripped the empty coffee mug so hard that the fact that it didn't shatter into a million little pieces defied the laws of physics.

(_he wished it would. the physical pain wouldn't hold a candle to the anguish he felt)_

The sound of the water running in the bathroom meant that Spencer was about to perform her daily ritual of scrubbing until her pale skin was red and raw.

(_"Why won't it come off?" he had heard her sob)_

Helpless was the only one of the millions of emotions Toby had experienced over the past few weeks, and today was no exception. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to touch so much as a hair on Spencer's head would wish they had never been born. Toby would see to that.

xx

_Later that morning..._

If there was one thing that made Emily Fields happy, it was an early morning swim. The cool water was heaven against her skin, the silence of the world underwater euphoric.

She counted the strokes in her head. _One_and_two_and_one_and_two_and...

"Emily!"

Lifting her goggles onto her head, Emily spun around the pool, searching for the source of the deep voice. Almond eyes landed on icy blue ones. A wide grin spread across her face. "Hey stranger!"

Emily watched as Toby sat Indian-style near the pool ladder. She swam smoothly towards him, grabbing the ladder's handle.

"Hey," Toby replied

The smile on Emily's face disappeared when she heard the grim tone of his voice. She didn't have to guess that it had something to do with...

"Spencer. I don't know what to do about Spencer." A hand ran through thick light brown locks.

Emily closed her eyes, guilt gripping her throat. "Me- me neither," she admitted with a slight stammer. "Hanna and I still haven't told Aria because that's what Spencer wanted, but it's just... it's getting harder and harder not to say anything."

And that was the truth. The past few weeks, it was as if Spencer was, as Aria put it, on another planet; she motioned through the school days robotically, smiling when appropriate and pretending to study otherwise. _"She and Toby got in a fight,"_ Emily had lied at the time. Aria only barely believed that; it was just a matter of time before she found out what was really going on.

Toby sighed sadly. His face was stone. "We're losing her, Em. I'm worried she's slipping so far away that we'll never be able to get her back."

There was pause, the only audible sound the soft rippling of the water as Emily started to get out of the pool; she didn't want to (_couldn't_) deal with this right now. Not with school day starting and the girls meeting at her locker and Paige trying to talk college and try-outs.

Brows furrowed. "Where are you going?"

Clearing her throat, Emily turned away from Toby and picked up a towel. "I have to shower," she said hastily.

As much as she loved her friend, she couldn't tell him the truth about her and Spencer. About how it was more than an argument. About how she said the nastiest things, and at the time, truly _meant_ them. About how if it hadn't been for her, Spencer wouldn't have felt the need to go off by herself.

All of the emotions Emily had been feeling bubbled to the surface. The past few weeks, she had tried to be strong, had tried to quell the voice in her head that tortured her conscious over and over (and over) with _what if?_

But with Toby's stare piercing through her back, Emily couldn't hold it in anymore. Slowly, she turned around, her expression guilty. "It was all my fault." Her voice wavered, but she said again, louder this time. "It was my fault Spencer was attacked."

Toby leapt to his feet, briskly walked to Emily's side. "No," he emphasized, a hand fluttering to her shoulder. "No it was _not_. I don't want to hear you say that again."

It was nice to hear, but Emily didn't believe that she wasn't a horrible, horrible person. Why couldn't he see the ugliness that she felt inside?

"Toby," Emily started shakily, "You don't know what happened before Spencer was drugged, okay? We fought. We _more_ than fought." She took a deep breath. "I was awful to her. And when she ran off, I wasn't sorry. If I would have just swallowed my pride and backed down, Spencer wouldn't have been..." Emily couldn't say it. "Hurt. She wouldn't have been hurt. And I'm selfish because it didn't happen to me, but I still feel so guilty."

Emily felt Toby's arms wrap around her and the first tear fell, salty and warm. "I need to tell her I'm sorry," she whispered.

Suddenly, Toby perked up.

"I think I know a way."

xx

Did you like the different perspectives? Next chapter will be Spencer, but I'm interested to hear what you guys think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Milk**

_**When Spencer is drugged by an A-team member at Gamma Zeta party and the unspeakable happens, she must rely on Toby, the girls, and most of all, herself to get through it. **_

xx

_Tick _

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

Spencer looked up. The clock above the chalkboard read 3:15. To most Rosewood High students, that meant freedom; to Spencer, it meant that night, and all of the nightmares that came with it, was edging closer.

Ezra - _Mr. Fitz_ - finished up his lecture on Hester Prynne and her relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale. He turned around to erase the chalkboard.

Spencer rose quietly in her seat, hoping to escape from the classroom before the girls could invite her to coffee.

A deep voice called out across the room. "Spencer, can I see you for a minute?"

Spencer opened her mouth to protest, but Ezra's expectant gaze left no room to do so. "Uh, sure," she replied, setting her backpack onto her desk. "Did I bomb the essay? I know it could have been better, but - "

"No, no. Your essay was great." Ezra waited for the rest of the students to file out of the classroom. Aria, Emily, and Hanna lingered in the doorway, shuffling out only when Ezra cleared his throat knowingly. "Your essay was great," he repeated as he went to close the door, "but it concerned me. The way you wrote about Hester's shame, humiliation... It seemed as if it hit really close to home. Is everything okay?" "

_"No!"_ Spencer wanted to scream. But fear, embarrassment, pride, they held her tongue hostage, and when she said _"yes_" instead, she felt like crying.

An eyebrow raised as Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you sure? Spencer, anything you tell me will be between you and me. I promise."

Spencer tucked a loose curl behind her ear and forced a smile. "Positive, Ez - Mr. Fitz. I'm fine."

Ezra nodded, satisfied. "Glad to hear it, Spencer. Don't hesitate to knock on my door if you need to talk."

"Thank you," Spencer said genuinely. It was nice, she thought, to say something she meant for once instead of lying.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Spencer walked briskly towards the door. On the way out, someone bumped into her already-sore right shoulder _hard_ and a sudden overpowering aroma of leather assaulted her senses "You could've said sorry, you know," Spencer seethed, not bothering to stop and wait for a response.

She'd made it halfway down the hallway when she stopped in her tracks, a paralyzing fear crawling up her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise.

That smell, that old leathery smell, it was all too memorable. It was the same smell that overpowered Spencer in the room with the colorful lights.

As waves of students passed around her, she began to remember - two gloved hands, one pressing over her mouth, pushing her deeper into the mattress, the other tugging at a belt. The face was blurry, the voice neither male nor female.

Suddenly, Spencer's world was spinning and it was all she could do to not pass out on the cold and unforgiving school tiles.

_Breathe_, Spencer willed herself, counting _1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10_...

The moment had passed. Spencer had earned herself a few confused stares, but ignored them as she walked to the bathroom, eyes to the floor.

The bathroom door shut behind her with an echo. It was empty, quiet. It was the kind of place that kept too many secrets for its inhabitants. Spencer turned on the sink faucet and ran a paper towel beneath it. Squeezing out the excess water, she placed the towel behind her neck and sunk to the floor.

xx

After a long walk through the neighborhood and a surreptitious stop home to retrieve clothes for the next school day, Spencer arrived at Toby's apartment (she'd been spending a lot of time at his house, much to her parent's chagrin).

The scent of simmering pasta sauce hit Spencer as soon as she opened the door. The dining room table was set with Mrs. Cavanaugh's china, the flames of two tall candles flickering softly. Spencer smiled, but couldn't help but wonder if Toby was up to something.

Setting her backpack and purse down near Toby's shoes, Spencer wandered towards the kitchen. "Hello?" she called out.

"Hey there, gorgeous!" Toby answered, head buried deep in the refrigerator. He popped up, a successful grin on his face as he held up a bottle of red wine snuck from the Marshall residence.

Pink lips tugged up at the corners reluctantly. "What's the occasion?"

Retrieving a wine opener from the drawer, Toby shrugged casually. "How does 'I love my girlfriend and want to do something nice for her' sound?"

Spencer blushed. "It sounds perfect."

The wine cork was removed with a gentle _pop_. Toby pulled out a seat and Spencer sat down, watching as he filled up her wine glass half-way to the top. He filled his glass, too, and disappeared back to the kitchen.

For some reason, Spencer was nervous. She reached for the glass, took a long sip, felt the bittersweet liquid burn down her throat and coat her stomach.

Toby returned with a bowl of spaghetti topped with a rich red marinara in one hand, and basket of garlic bread in the other. Placing the food on the table, he scooped a heaping spoonful of spaghetti onto Spencer's plate, and then his, and then took a seat. "Bon appetit," he smiled.

Spencer hesitantly took a small bite of pasta under Toby's expectant stare. "Mmm." She wondered if it sounded as dry in reality as it did in her head.

Toby downed a substantially larger bite. He washed it down with a long sip of wine. "So, how was your day?"

"Fine." Spencer really didn't feel like recounting the flashback she had in the middle of the hallway.

_(it would be too soon if she never smelled leather again) _

Spencer caught the frown on Toby's face that was quickly replaced with a feigned smile. "That's great, Spence." There was a long, awkward pause. Toby took another bite, cleared his throat. "So did you hear Mona and Noel Kahn got back together?"

The old Spencer would have perked up at the news, but all this Spencer did was shudder. "Those two creeps belong together."

For the next few minutes, Spencer and Toby sat in silence, Toby finishing up his pasta and Spencer pushing hers, uneaten, around her plate.

"Spence, you really need to eat." The way Toby said it made Spencer wonder if he had been planning to talk to her about this for a while now.

Spencer drew into herself. "I'm not hungry." And that was the truth. Her appetite had run away from her three weeks ago; now, everything that touched her tongue, including Toby's spaghetti, turned to ash. She knew she was losing weight at an alarming rate, but she didn't have enough strength to bother stopping. Even now, holding the fork, pretending to eat, was exhausting. If only Toby understood.

Spencer anticipated a lecture, but before Toby could respond, a _knockknockknock_ sounded at the door. She jerked out of her seat, stood as far away from the door as possible as Toby opened it.

Emily, Hanna, and Aria filed through the door, huge smiles plastered on their faces.

"What are you guys doing here?" Spencer asked cautiously. "Is everything okay?"

She hadn't hung out with the girls outside of school since before that night at Gamma Zeta. Truth be told, Spencer was afraid to, because she was afraid of what they might ask. There were so many questions that Spencer had herself that she couldn't answer.

_(why me? why me? why me?)_

"Everything's fine!" Aria replied enthusiastically. "We just thought you'd enjoy a girls' night since we haven't had one in for-_ever_." She waved a couple of DVDs that were in her small hand. "No one's ever said no to _Dirty Dancing_ and _The Breakfast Club_!"

"It'll be fun!" Emily added at the same time that Hanna pleaded, "Come on!"

Spencer's stomach lurched, the thought of socializing unbearable to the brunette. "I - I have a huge English exam to study for and I haven't even finished reading the book," she lied.

Quite obviously, too, and she knew she'd been busted when Hanna smirked. "Nice try, Spence. The English test isn't for two weeks. Quit being lame."

Spencer sighed. She knew Hanna wouldn't leave without a fight. "Fine," she conceded. "One movie."

An expression flashed across Toby's face that Spencer couldn't quite read. "I'm going to run to the store and grab some milk," he announced.

xx

By the end of_ The Breakfast Club_, Hanna was sobbing into Emily's sweatshirt. Aria's hands gripped the edge of the pillow, doe eyes wide brimmed with wetness. As Spencer observed them, she had to admit that it felt nice to be around her friends again. She also had to admit that it was taking Toby an awful long time to get milk...

Aria's nudge jostled Spencer out of her thoughts. "We aren't so bad, huh?"

"Come on, Aria, you know I love you guys," Spencer replied, drawing the throw blanket over her long legs. "I'm just... I'm really stressed out. I've had a lot put on my plate lately."

Aria pressed pause, the glare from the TV the sole light in the room. "Like what?" the tiny brunette asked.

Spencer shifted uncomfortably. "You wouldn't understand." Hanna and Emily exchanged glances, which didn't go unnoticed. Spencer crossed her arms. "What was that about?" she asked.

Hanna feigned ignorance. "What was what about?"

"That look. Just because I'm stressed doesn't mean I'm stupid."

Hanna opened her mouth to speak, but Aria cut her off. "No one thinks you're stupid, Spence. We've all just noticed how different you've been acting the past few weeks and it's scaring us!"

Mocha eyes darted, lightning fast, from Hanna to Emily. Emily looked especially guilty. "You _told_ her? How could you do that to me after everything that happened!?" Spencer hissed. The betrayal she felt was _painful_.

"No, Spence!" Emily protested, "We didn't tell her!"

A confused look washed over Aria's face. "Wait, what didn't you tell me?"

Spencer laughed bitterly. "Now you guys are gonna lie to my face? Some friends."

"I honestly don't know what's going on right now, but I'm starting to think that there's a lot more happening than anyone is bothering to tell me," Aria said, clearly hurt.

Spencer jumped to her feet, fuming. "You're telling me that Emily and Hanna _didn't_ tell you what happened at Gamma Zeta? That someone slipped something into my drink? That I was _raped_?" Spencer's hand fluttered to her mouth as soon as the word came out of her mouth; she'd never said it until tonight.

A hushed silence fell over the room. One glance at Aria's horrified face and Spencer knew that the tiny brunette was telling the truth. No one had told Spencer's secret but Spencer herself.

She was going to be sick.

And at that moment, Toby walked through the door, gallon of milk in one hand and a carton of ice cream in the other. "Sorry it took me so long, I ran into Caleb and..." The rest of his sentence was caught in his throat upon seeing the stricken look on Spencer's face. "Is everything okay?"

The initial shock of the what just happened wore off, and slowly, slowly, Spencer shook her head. "No, Toby, it's not." A quiet realization dawned over her, and suddenly Spencer was furious, hurt, all of the above. "All of you were in on this... this _intervention_, weren't you?"

No one had it in them to respond and Spencer knew she had her answer. She swallowed hard, not wanting her vulnerability to present itself.

"I should go home," she whispered, voice quivering.

And she did.

xx

Thank you all for the lovely reviews. I hope that this chapter was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write! Poor Spencer indeed :(


	4. Chapter 4

**Milk**

_**When Spencer is drugged by an A-team member at Gamma Zeta party and the unspeakable happens, she must rely on Toby, the girls, and most of all, herself to get through it. **_

_Before we get down to business, I want to clear up a little misconception from Ch.3 - the girls' "unannounced" arrival was coordinated by Toby (and Emily, to a degree). Now, time to get reading :)_

xx

Dark curls flew loosely behind Spencer as she ran, flustered and _pissed_, out the door.

_Shitshitshit... _Toby's mind cursed as he took off after his girlfriend. He flew down the stairs, out of the side door, and spilled out onto the busy evening sidewalk.

"Spencer! Wait" he shouted, trying to keep his icy blue eyes targeted to Spencer's back.

Dodging passersby proved too hard, though. Lost in the swarm of worker bees bustling home from work, she slipped out of view.

Spencer was gone.

"Goddamnit," Toby muttered with a scowl. He was livid - not at Spencer, but at himself, for thinking that inviting the girls over was even a _remotely_ good idea. Of course Spencer would realize something was up; she wasn't president of the National Honors Society because of her athleticism.

Mere seconds passed before the girls were crowded around him. "Well, that went over well," Hanna observed, sarcasm lacing her words.

"Hanna!" Emily chastised.

The blonde shrugged. "What? We basically just made everything worse."

Ruby lips turned downwards into a frown. "She's right," Aria remarked. "We made a mess. Why did you guys keep this from me if you knew all along why Spence has been acting like a pod person?"

"Because it wasn't our secret to tell," snapped an irritated Toby. He saw the taken-aback look on Aria's face and immediately felt ashamed at his outburst. "I'm sorry, Aria," he amended, choosing his next words carefully. "We all wanted to tell you, but it was Spencer's decision to keep quiet. We had to respect that choice."

Aria gave Toby a forgiving smile. "Don't apologize. I get it. What I _don't_ get is why A hasn't threatened Spencer with this. Everything has been _way_ too quiet lately."

Toby nodded in agreement. "That's what worries me."

"And I still have the gun I found in my mom's closet," Hanna added. An elbow nudged hard into the side of her rib. "_What?_" the blonde hissed, dropping her voice. "It's _true_. And A hasn't bothered to call me _or_ Emily out on it."

A ominous silence fell over the group.

_What the hell was A up to?_

xx

Spencer sat at her cluttered desk, a single salty tear dripping onto her copy of _The Scarlet Letter_, blurring the neatly typed _**A**_ that denoted Hester's ignominy. How could her friends - how could _Toby_ - do that to her? How could they gang up on her and expect her to welcome their intrusion with open arms? It's not like Spencer could tell them what she was feeling; no one would possibly understand.

One thing Spencer felt was exhaustion. She was soso_so_ tired of being tired. Her mind was still sharp, and it told her that depression was likely settling in, weighing down her bones and making it harder and harder to wade through the mire of the day. She pushed away from her desk, sighed. Stood up and started pacing. In her own bedroom, Spencer felt cornered, vulnerable. _A sitting target_, she thought. Despite her anger at Toby, Spencer all of a sudden felt an overwhelming desire to be buried in his arms, where it was safe.

A sharp knock sounded on the door, disrupting Spencer's thoughts.

Veronica Hastings peeked her head into the room. "Spencer, honey, I thought were you staying at Toby's. Is everything okay? You guys aren't fighting are you?"

Spencer forced a quaint smile. "Everything's fine, mom," she lied (easily, as was par for the course). "I just figured I'd get more studying done here." She felt her mother scrutinize her face for any hint that suggested otherwise.

"Okay," Veronica relented. She nudged open the door with her foot, and Spencer saw that she was holding something in her arms. "This came for you yesterday, by the way."

Spencer was bewildered. "Uh, thanks," she remarked, taking a white box out of her mother's hands, inspecting it carefully. The box was long and thin, unlabeled but for Spencer's name and home address, which was written in elaborate calligraphy. So distracted by the mystery box, it took a minute for Spencer to register that her mother was talking.

"...early meeting tomorrow at six-thirty, so goodnight, sweetie. Love you."

"Love you too, mom," Spencer replied hurriedly. She waited until Veronica left the room before re-focusing on cumbersome package. Sitting down on the bed, Spencer placed the box on the blanket in front of her. Ignoring the faint growl of her stomach, she reached over for the scissors that rested in the cup on her desk.

_Baboombaboombaboom_

Spencer's heart thudded thunderously in her chest as she debated her next move. She considered chucking the whole box, unopened, into the garbage can outside. After all, the world spun before she received the package and would continue spinning after the package was discarded. _But what about the alternative_? Spencer thought - shredding the box open to see... see _what_, exactly?

The detective in Spencer won out as she brought the sharp end of the scissors to the clear tape on the box. She hesitated for one beat, two. Dragged the scissors across the box and pulled the two cardboard flaps apart. The inside of the box was filled with royal purple tissue paper, Spencer's favorite color. For a fleeting second, she wondered if this was a preemptive strike on Toby's part to keep her from staying mad. More and more tissue paper flew out of the box, almost as if it were part of an endless flow of magician's scarves.

Her fingers pawed the box for something, _anything_, before finally gripping around a soft, thick fabric. Spencer's brows furrowed as she pulled the material from the box and began unfolding it with caution.

Expresso eyes widened in horror.

There it was, the belted, royal blue dress that Spencer had worn to the Gamma Zeta party. The belted, royal blue dress that was _supposed_ to have been taken to the town dump and incinerated weeks ago. A queasy sensation formed in the pit of her stomach as she eyed the unmistakable white stain marring the dress' hem.

Before Spencer could react further, her cell phone chirped loudly beside her. The queasiness developing into full-blown nausea, Spencer hesitantly picked it up.

The screen read:

**1 new text message**

And suddenly, everything was starting to become clear. Spencer swallowed hard as she opened the text message, dread constricting her throat.

Inside was a camera photo of a figured sheathed in black, hunched over a limp Spencer inside of Gamma Zeta. The rest of the message read:

**You can't trust anyone. Take care of this, Spencer, or else I will. **

**Kisses, **

**-A**

xx

What did you guys think? Any idea of where this is going? Let me know what you think. Thank you so much for the reviews so far!


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